Hey Guys,
I am working on a ranch in the Texas Hill Country and need some advice....We have just created an 18 acre lake and I am designing the structure for the lake. I need some suggestions on what we can put in there for good fish habitats and spawning areas. How long should we wait to stock the lake? What is some good aquatic vegitation to put in the lake for a food and cover source? Please help I can use all the advice I can get!!!!!!
Thanks,
Sara
Hey, Sara...
We have just created an 18 acre lake
oooo, I feel the "pond envy" pot startin to bubble.
I'm just a "rook" here, so I'll kick back with the remote and let the pro's run the show. I just wanted to say "hey and welcome". (now, lemme see...what button is PBTV?)
Welcome Sara, like Brettski, I just turned green. I'm not a pro, but that's never stopped me.
The first step would be to do some thinking about some detailed goals for the pond/lake. If you don't know where you're going, almost any road will take you there. But, you might not like the destination. An 18 acre Hill Country lake ought to be done right.
The general rule of thumb is that structure should be placed no deeper than 10 ft. However, consider that Texas water holes can vary in depth according to rain.
The biggest consideration is the shape and depth of the impoundment. Have you done any contouring? If not, is it too late? The old saying is that 90% of the fish will always live in 10% of the water. However, I think that can be vastly improved; depending on construction of fish highways and natural attractants. Humps, ridges, dropoffs, dozed out ditches, rock piles etc. will draw and hold fish. Shallow brush piles are needed for small fish to hide and grow. Bass like fluffy stuff to orient on.
Be very careful of vegetation. This stuff can get invasive. I would look for a pro, in your area. Ask for references and go look over their work.
Stocking can be done when you have dependable water depth and water quality. What you stock will be dependent on your goals.
Who you use to stock it can also be important. There are some really good Pro's to check with. However, like all professions, there are some shady characters to stay away from. If you do some research here, you will run into some good ones. Ask some of the guys here about their experience with certain "pro's".
Bob Lusk, Harrel Arms, Todd Overton, Trent Lewis, Kenneth Henneke and Malcolm Johnson all have good reputations. All of these guys can do the whole thing for you. Be very careful.
My normal advice is to subscribe to Pond Boss mag. That will be the least expensive and most rewarding step in the process. Take a look at the advertisers. Lusk doesn't accept advertising dollars from scam artists. The best book I have found is "Raising Trophy Bass" by Lusk. I've bought three of them, loaned them out and not gotten them back. Take a look for back issues listed in the Mag that interest you and order them. You can get a quicker education there than anyplace I know of.
Oh yeah, keep your checkbook handy.
Sara :
Welcome to the PB forum. Dave has provided good basic advice. I will add a number of specific links below on some of the questions.
general stct. info methods:
Below is a link to the new Habitat Manual from the Southern Division of The American Fisheries Society. It is a great resource for info on and building of cover/stct. I think you will enjoy this and get some ideas including drawings/pics.
http://www.sdafs.org/reservoir/manuals/habitat/Main.htm Also there is a new Aquatic Vegetation Manual linked below
http://www.sdafs.org/reservoir/manuals/aqveg/veghome.htm If you have water depth fluctuations or will fish in fall through spring (as well as summer) then some deep cover is good. I like cover that goes from the bottom at 15ft all the way to or near the surface in a few locations.
Pallets as stct.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000132 Xmas trees as stct.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000083;p=1 Gravel for BG spawning
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000124 Rip-rap as stct.
http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000134 Rock for LMB spawning.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000120;p=1 Tires as stct.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000138 Sand for spawning.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000115 General stct./cover ideas
http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000016 Oak trees.
http://www.pondboss.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000008 Pond pics. stct.
http://photobucket.com/albums/b165/ahvatsa/ thermocline and islands.
http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=001578#000005 There are hundreds of threads here on stct. and cover. The above are a few good ones many of which have links to additional material and even better pics. Get the PB mag. and the PB book on pond mgt. and ask all the questions you like and we will help you through this. Ponds are great fun.
....dang, Ewest. I gotta add this page to my favorites...good show...thx!
If Eric had three or four more links up there, this would be the only post anyone would ever have to refer to, for any question!
Guys feel free to add to the post. There are a lot of good stct./cover posts archived on the forum. These are just a few very good ones with lots of links and pics.
I really liked the "Sputnik" structure ideas, with bowling balls and PVC.